Jacqueline Fernandez, Nora Fatehi, Pinki Irani and more: How and why conman Sukesh used lavish gifts to 'lure' actresses

Bollywood actor Jacqueline Fernandez was on Monday questioned once again by the Economic Offences Wing of the Delhi Police in connection with the extortion case linked to alleged conman Sukesh Chandrashekhar. This was the second time that Jacqueline was questioned by the EOW for her alleged involvement in the case. 

Chandrashekhar was arrested for allegedly cheating and extorting money from some high-profile people, including former Fortis Healthcare promoter Shivinder Mohan Singh`s wife Aditi Singh. Many Bollywood actors and models have been questioned by the Enforcement Directorate for their alleged links with Chandrashekhar.

In April last year, Chandrashekhar was arrested in another money laundering case linked to the 2017 Election Commission bribery case, which allegedly involved a former AIADMK leader, among others.

Chandrasekhar, a native of Bengaluru in Karnataka, is currently lodged in a Delhi jail and has 15 FIRs lodged against him. The scamster is accused of running an extortion racket worth Rs 200 crore from inside the Tihar jail. 

Chandrasekhar has been grabbing the headlines in the recent times, not only for his alleged crimes, but also for the people he has been associated with, including several Bollywood and TV actresses who are under the lens of central agencies. 

Jacqueline Fernandez

The Bollywood actress is being investigated over charges of receiving luxury gifts from Chandresekhar bought using the proceeds of crime. 

According to ANI, Fernandez on Monday revealed that she received expensive bags, jewellery and other gift items that she jotted down on a list which she submitted to the EOW. As per sources quoted by the news agency, Jacqueline accepted that she has earlier counted on him for chartered flight rides not once but multiple times.

According to investigators, her gifts included luxury cars Maserati and a Porsche, which cost above Rs 1 crore. She also received a Mini Cooper Car which costs another Rs 50 lakh.

Fernandez allegedly also received four Persian cats, designer bags from Gucci and Chanel, and a pair of Louis Vuitton shoes. There were a total of 20 pieces of jewellery, 65 pairs of shoes, 47 cloth items, 32 bags, and 9 paintings, among other things. 

Fernandez is said to have admitted to cops to have been in a relationship with Chandrasekhar for six months, but claimed that she was unaware of his criminal activities. The investigators, on the other hand, have contended that the actress knew about Chandrasekhar’s criminal record but avoided it to keep receiving expensive gifts. 

Nora Fatehi

Bollywood actor Nora Fatehi was on September 15 questioned by the Delhi Police’s EOW for nearly five hours in connection with the extortion case linked to alleged conman Sukesh Chandrasekhar. This was the second time that she was summoned for questioning by the Delhi Police for her alleged role in the case. 

Fatehi was questioned alongside Pinki Irani who allegedly introduced her to Chandrashekhar. 

Interrogation revealed that Fatehi was approached by Irani on behalf of Chandrashekhar in January. Fatehi claimed that she went to attend the event in Chennai for a studio inauguration and Chandrashekhar's wife gifted her an expensive bag and a car, instead of fee, the officer said.

However, Fatehi has never met Chandrashekhar in person but they have had limited conversation over WhatsApp and she was not aware about his illegal activities, the officer added. 

Chandrashekhar's wife had insisted Fatehi to take the car as a gift instead of charging fee for the Chennai event, he said.

After the event, Chandrashekhar repeatedly tried to contact Fatehi on phone but she became suspicious and broke all ties with him, the officer said.

In January this year, Irani had approached Fatehi's brother-in-law and he received the gifted car instead of Fatehi due to certain legal constraints, he said, adding it is part of investigation. "The car received as a gift was later sold by him," the officer said.

Nora claimed in front of the EOW that she was a "victim of the conspiracy and not a conspirator". She also showed the screenshots of her chats with Sukesh to the police.

Pinki Irani

Pinki Irani is a close aide and friend of Chandrasekhar who introduced him to Fernandez. The EOW has also questioned Irani twice. 

Irani became the personal shopper of Chandrasekhar and with the help of a video call (from jail), she purchased gifts for Fernandez from Christian Dior, LV, Hermès, etc. The shopping list includes — bags, shoes, watches, accessories, horse harness, saddle, and whip.

As per reports, Chandrasekhar offered Rs 10 crore to Irani for sorting out differences between Fernandez and him as they had a fight around Valentine’s Day. He also gave a Tiffany diamond ring to propose to Fernandez, which had J&S as its initials.

Irani took many actresses/models to Tihar Jail in Delhi to introduce them to Chandrasekhar, whose names are withheld as they are witnesses. She introduced herself to these actresses/models as “Angel”.

The ED probe also revealed that Chandrasekhar tried to influence other actresses through Irani, including Bhumi Pednekar, Sara Ali Khan and Jhanvi Kapoor. Some of them received the gifts, while others denied. In total, Chandrasekhar had spent Rs 20 crore since 2015 on various actresses/models.

Nikki Tamboli

According to reports, Irani had introduced Nikki to Sukesh, who introduced himself as “Shekhar”. 

“It was further revealed that on two occasions Nikita Tamboli met the accused, Sukesh Chandrasekhar, inside the Tihar Jail, Delhi at his office, maintained there. During the first meeting in April 2018, the accused Pinky Irani received an amount to the tune of Rs 10 lakh in cash from Sukesh Chandrasekhar, out of which she gave Rs 1.5 lakh to Nikita Tamboli. On the second occasion, after two to three weeks after her first meeting, she went alone to meet Sukesh Chandrasekhar where she was given cash to the tune of Rs 2 lakh and one Gucci Bag by the accused Sukesh Chandrasekhar,” News18 quoted the ED chargesheet as stating. 

Chahatt Khanna

Chahatt, who is known for her role as ‘Ayesha’ in Bade Achhe Lagte Hain from 2011 to 2015, told the ED that she too Sukesh Chandrasekhar by Pinky Irani; to her Sukesh Chandrasekhar posed as a south Indian movie producer.

She too allegedly met Sukesh inside the Tihar Jail, Delhi at his office, maintained there, for which Pinky Irani gave her Rs 2 lakh in cash and a blue Versace watch, ED sources said.

Sophia Singh

Television actress Sophia Singh was approached by Pinki in connection with work in a film. She allegedly met the conman twice in Tihar Jail.

While Rs 2 lakh was deposited in her bank account after the first meeting in May 2018, she got one LV Bag from Sukesh and received Rs 1.5 lakh into her bank account when she met him alone after 15 days, investigators say.

Arusha Patil

The actress told officials that she never met Sukesh and only spoke to him over WhatsApp for which she received Rs 5.20 lakh in December 2020, out of which she had transferred one lakh to Pinki Irani.